It all started when Rich had to have another back surgery a few years ago, I was just starting

school. The stress from his injuries and surgery, plus the pressure of school did a number on me.

I started praying for peace and also for understanding to gain some insight into how much

my husband was going through with his emotions. I literally asked God to help me understand...

not that that was a mistake, but I was not prepared for what God had in store.

Initially, it started with chest pain, unexplained.

The doctors said it was most likely due to stress and diagnosed me with costochondritis.

I jokingly laughed and said it was basically a made up name to keep me from thinking I was a nut, especially since many people have never heard of it before.

After about a year of dealing with the constant pain in my chest and doing all the tests to be sure it wasn't something more serious, the pain started to subside to some degree.

I do still have issues with this now and then, mostly when I start having panic attacks

or experience some other issue with anxiety.

Due to all the stress and mental angst, I still had a low immune level,

this put me at risk for bronchitis and in Dec. '14 I ended up being hospitalized from it.

I was given steroids and antibiotics and eventually released from the hospital, sent home with oxygen tanks, a concentrator, and enough tubing and hoses to wrap around my house three times.

In Nov. '15 - if you remember - was the start of a whole 'nother round and round of bronchitis,

pneumonia, and hospital stays....if you've been a long time reader, than you may remember

that whole scenario from that year. Over six months of steroids off and on and antibiotics, etc.
and of course, the stress and other issues

I managed to make it through December this past year ('16), without incident

Thank God!

However, January got me.

Ended up getting sick again, I could feel myself getting weaker,

my lungs were hurting.

So I went to the doctor and they said I was literally one step away from the hospital - again.

They prescribed the strongest antibiotics and steroids that they could give me

and urged me to strongly take it easy, and go directly to the hospital if I felt worse.

The next step, would be IV antibiotics and steroids, plus bed rest.

There have been many other numerous issues that have come up through the last few years

too many to mention here.

But the bottom line is...

all the steroids, stress and general junk

has caused me to gain some major weight.

especially belly fat....which is a major issue with those who deal with stress.
All those commercials that talk about belly weight gain and stress
producing the hormone cortisol....yep, they are true.
and it's super hard to lose weight - believe me, I've tried.
I've exercised, I dieted, etc...nothing works.

This all lead me to think about reaching out to Nutrisystem.

Nutrisystem really worked for me - I lost about 40 pounds when I did before.

Some Favorite Quotes

***Sometimes being a Brother is even better than being a Superhero. ~ Marc Brown***

***I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen. ~ A.A. Milne***

***When a child is locked in the bathroom with water running and he says he's doing nothing but the dog is barking, call 911. ~ Erma Bombeck***

***All of us have moments in our lives that test our courage. Taking children into a house with white carpet is one of them." ~ Erma Bombeck***

***"Saying there are too many children, is like saying there are too many flowers." ~ Mother Teresa***

***You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back." ~William D. Tammelus***

***You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes. ~Walter M. Schirra, Sr.***